Highly skilled experts required at decommissioning

2016-Nov-15th

It requires something exceptional and extraordinary when an offshore wind farm is dismantled for the first time in world history. When Swedish utility Vattenfall shortly before the turn of the year was facing the task of dismantling Yttre Stengrund’s five offshore wind turbines in Kalmar Sound, special expertise was required.

The Swedish marine contracting company Svensk Sjöentreprenad AB was chosen for the task of appointing the most competent subcontractors for the job. They chose a joint collaboration between the Danish companies BMS Krangården A/S and Connected Wind Services, an independent service provider situated in Balle, Denmark, with business units in Sweden and Germany.

BMS Krangården supplied the required crane capacity in connection with the dismantling and Connected Wind Services was hired to provide both the necessary equipment and the highly specialized wind turbine technicians for the actual dismantling of the 55 meters high wind turbines.

Knowhow and expertise
- For us it was 100 percent obvious to contact Connected Wind Services. We have worked closely with them for several years; they are truly professionals and we knew they could do the job, says Ole Berthelsen, who is Department Supervisor, Cranes at BMS Krangården.

He stresses that Connected Wind Services was chosen for the task based on several specific reasons.

- As one of the market leaders within service and refurbishment of wind turbines, Connected Wind Services has the special lifting gear and other equipment required for such a project. Furthermore their competent and highly educated employees possess both the required know-how and expertise in this field. It was also an important factor that Connected Wind Services is backed by a large, stable organization.

Pioneers within offshore
Project manager in Connected Wind Services, Mikkel Kærgaard, views the project as the company's litmus test within offshore wind turbines.
- The dismantling of Yttre Stengrund was a pioneer task for all of us who were involved, and that is why it was very important that it went well. The fact that we exceeded expectations was due to thorough preparations in combination with having very skilled employees, says Mikkel Kærgaard.

Connected Wind Services had a total of eight men assigned to the project for a period of one month. Thorough scheduling plus factored in challenging weather conditions which can occur especially at that time of the year meant that the time table was fully kept.

- We can thank our competent technicians for the short dismantling time which helped minimize delays due to bad weather conditions. As a team they have many years of experience in the wind power industry, and this is one of our most important strengths, says Mikkel Kærgaard.
He is pleased that the dismantling of Yttre Stengrund has proven that Connected Wind Services has the strength and expertise to solve very complex service projects, also when it involves offshore wind turbines.

Positivity and flexibility
For the project's main contractor SSE it was an important factor that Connected Wind Services is a highly skilled player in the market and has a unique knowledge of wind farm dismantling.

- Connected Wind Services delivered a compelling description of methods and risk assessments, which both SSE and Vattenfall easily approved, says Johan Holmberg, who is responsible for quality, environment and health&safety at MarCon Group AB, to which SSE belongs.

At the same time he applauds the Connected Wind Services crew for their positive attitude and flexibility in solving the varied tasks that such a project contains.

- Connected Wind Services has strongly contributed to the project's success and to the customer’s overall satisfaction, says Johan Holmberg.

Structured teamwork
Project manager Maria Hassel from Vattenfall also applauds the efforts of Connected Wind Services.

- We think they succeeded with flying colours and in perfect cooperation with all parties involved. The communication with Connected Wind Services has been really good throughout the two months the project lasted, says Maria Hassel.

She describes the Connected Wind Services technicians and their way of working as structured, calm and methodical and with a high degree of awareness, especially when it comes to both safety procedures and teamwork.

- In our line of business you can easily become stressed, because you have to hurry, and then tend to forget all about both structure and security. But this definitely did not happen to the people from Connected Wind Services, says Maria Hassel.

The decision to dismantle Yttre Stengrund was based on both technical and financial reasons. The wind turbines, of which only one was still in operation, were an early model which is no longer in production. Therefore it would be difficult to get hold of spare parts and costly to refurbish the generators, gearboxes and other main components.

FACTS ABOUT CONNECTED WIND SERVICES

• Connected Wind Services (CWS) is one of the leading independent service providers in Europe
• CWS has a solid local presence deeply rooted in the European wind industry
• A strong service network with 45+ service teams
• CWS has more than 1850+ wind turbines in service
• 25+ years of experience and Europe’s first Independent Service Provider
   

FACTS ABOUT YTTRE STENGRUND

• The wind farm’s five wind turbines in Kalmar Sound had been in operation since 2001.
• Since 2006, Yttre Stengrund has been owned by Vattenfall.
• The five NEG-Micon wind turbines were produced in Denmark and had a total capacity of 10 MW.
• Yttre Stengrund is the first offshore wind farm in the world to be decommissioned.
• The decommission project was started in November and was finished in January.
• The project was completed with Swedish Svensk Sjöentreprenad AB as main contractor.
• The Danish crane company BMS Krangården A/ S supplied the crane capacity and was in charge of dismantling of concrete foundations. Connected Wind Services A/S was responsible for supplying both lifting equipment and other specialized equipment and decommissioning the rotors, nacelles and the five wind turbine towers, each consisting of two sections.

For further information, please contact our Group Marketing:

Inga Christiansen
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